Hi Kirstee, and everyone (addressed to Kirstee since she is the only other board member sharing/interested in the Guaifenesin Protocol):) I am pretty encouraged about this lil medical victory and wanted to share about it.

About a month ago I requested a referral from my HMO doc to see Dr. St. Amand (for others, author of "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Fibromyalgia".) My HMO doc, very young doc at 35, knows little about FM. They don't teach that in med school. I bought an extra copy of Dr. St.Amand's book and dropped it off.... so he would have correct name spelling and the info for the referral request and that I would pick up the book at my next appt. <wink, wink>

I told my hubby that this would be an interesting test for us regarding our HMO doc. If he is a really good doctor he will actually read the book. If he is a typical HMO assemblyline doc he will just use it for the spelling and referral info for the referral. Well, my inlaws stopped by last night. My MIL had an appt with the same doc on Friday. I was very surprised and pleased when she said, "Oh yeah, by the way Dr. X asked about you and says hello. He showed me a FM book you left for him, and he wants you to know he is reading it!" He went and got the book to show her his book mark in it where he is about halfway through it! I am not sure that he would have gone out and bought on his own. But, my strategy was if it was sitting there on his desk long enough with him seeing it everyday that he just might pick it up, thumb through it, and something might grab his interest.....it did <wink>!!!!

Whether or not he will apply what he reads is a separate issue, but the fact that he WANTS to learn is a very good sign!! It will be quite interesting to see how my next appointment goes with him and what he has to actually say about what he has read.

When I initially made the referral request what got his attention was that Dr. St. Amand is an Endocrinologist and has specialized in FM for 40 years. My HMO doc is specializing in Internal Medicine. He, like most other doctors, had previously thought FM is just a Rheumatology area. The fact that my doctor is young and just starting at 35 and Dr. St. Amand is 80...he knew there was something of value he could learn from this older more experienced doctor. I could see it in his eyes and his response when I mentioned it to him, which is what inspired me to drop the book off.

The real victory here is that a doctor is reading a book (ANY book) about FM. All of them need to read a variety of books by other doctors regarding cause/treatment options. Now, if we could just get rheumatologists to read these books!!!

I did have another mini (very mini) inroad this past week in that area. My dermatology doc is married to a rheumatologist. At my appt with her a couple of weeks ago she told me she is leaving to join a new practice and gave me her email to keep in touch as she was interested in learning more about my FM and my treatment with Dr. St.Amand. I hope the info is for her hubby, but she did mention she has a friend with FM who got helped seeing a doctor in Marina del Rey and she was wondering if it is the same doctor I am seeing. Well, it has to be because Marina del Rey is a small suburb of LA. What a small world though, eh? Her friend had been like me, bedridden, and is now doing great....back to work, and working out at the gym. I am praying I will get as good of results. I have heard so many successes like this from so many gals using the Protocol. It is my last hope as I have tried everything else.

Hi JAM:

I loved your strategy with this doctor. Some doctors are such know-it-alls that they can't see the forest through the trees.

I had the same situation with my chiropractor. When I first told her about the guafenesin protocol that I started on her reaction was 'why would you want to put something like that in your body'. She's from the all-natural camp, you see. I then proceeded to recover and she saw the transformation. I then brought her the information sheet for doctors that you can download from St. Amand's website which she read - she was then hooked. I brought her the book, which she devoured. Then she ordered the DVD and gained more information. About that time there was an FMS convention in Southern California which she attended. She actually met Claudia Marek at this convention and Claudia gave her one-on-one training. This chiropractor is now one of the referrals on St. Amand's web referral! I am now working on my doctor in Colorado and hoping she will eventually see eye-to-eye with me on this matter. This doctor has had other FMS patients tell her about the guafenesin protocol, so I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Thanks for telling me the great testimony!

Blessings,
Kirstee

Hi Kirstee, sounds like you have had some successes as well with making inroads of enlightenment, yoooo hoooo gal!! If all of us could just get treatment providers of ANY type to read ANY FM books, not just the St. Amand one. It is going to take that kind of activism for us to make inroads on understanding to benefit others. I just ordered a copy of the book to give to my bodywork specialist. She is really into learning. She has other FM clients, and I thought maybe she might want to have the book to loan out to her clients. She loved the idea. It hadn't occurred to me about giving her a DVD, not sure why I didn't think of that, duhhhhhhhhh, FF I reck'n, lol. I think I'll pick up one for her at my next appt. Do you know if they keep a supply available at the office or is it just order online through their website? I know the office is small and not much space for inventory, though Claudia has it packed it to the gills, bless her heart. My bodywork gal is actually far more likely to watch the DVD than read the book since the DVD is only about 1 hr. 15 minutes. You'd think as many times as I have mentioned the DVD on this board that I would have thought about that!!! Just goes to show you how we must keep reminding each other of even the most obvious. With our FF, things just zoom right by us. Thanks for reminding me about that!!!!

Kirstee, I talked my sister last night. She started the Guai Protocol with me, in Sept. but she is about a month ahead of me at being on the right activation dose level. I started at much lower level than her. After only 2 months she has had 2 windows of absolutely NO FM symptoms and felt like before she ever got it, in pain level, clarity, energy level! I am so excited for her!!! She likely overdid it though...cleaned her whole house, baked, the works, she truly did *the dance of joy* getting to feel normal again. The first window lasted only a few hours and the second one lasted 24 hours. Can she expect it to go back and forth between short and longer windows or will it progressively get longer each time? While the last window has closed, she has not gone back to as bad as she was before it opened so not all progress is lost. It certainly gives her full determination and hope now for a full recovery since she experienced it. That has not yet happened for me, but I am much more severe than her and 10 years older, so lots more gunk to clear out of my muscle tissue.

We both see a similar pattern to our cycling, which has so far been constant, no breaks, just lesser and more intensity. Thankfully through it all she has been able to maintain all her activities so no down town time for her. We were really worried about that for her as she has a very active church and work obligation. I was bedridden before so I am already there, and is why I started out at much lower dose. She didn't intend to start out at 600 mg level but did so by accident and was over a week into it before she realized she had miscalculated the dose; just stayed with it. She did a trial to up to 900mg and was way more than she wanted to cope with and backed down to 600.

Oddly enough, we now suspect that neither of us are sal-sensitive because of mistakes we made and yet it didn't disrupt cycling. However, we are both continuing to use precautions about new product purchases, etc. I am beginning to wonder if just those who are sal-sensitive have the blocking?? Any ideas on that? Has Dr. St.Amand ever mentioned anything in your appts with him? I realize it can be hard to tell since blocking only lasts for 12 hours, but my sister has continued to take her Malic Acid which has low levels of plant extracts in it, and she is still cycling and getting good results obviously:)

Hi JAM:

My experience with cycling was so subtle. I had small windows of feeling good that gradually became larger and larger with time. It sounds like your sister is experiencing about the same type of healing that I experienced. I remember the same feelings of excitement when I actually felt good for a change, even though it was a short time. But it certainly gives hope, as well as faith in the treatment.

As far as the salicylates, I really don't strain to get every little bit out of my routine. If I find a product that has Aloe in it at the VERY end of the list of ingredients (and I really want to buy the item), I buy and use that product. At the very beginning, however, I feel it is important to stay on a strict regimine of eliminating as much of the sal as you can, then seeing what works and doesn't work. I think you better ask Dr. St. Amand what he thinks about your sal-sensitive thought. I don't really know, and he ALWAYS has an answer.

I am going to be in the L.A. area in December and I have an appointment scheduled with him. I can't wait to see my mapping progress!

Blessings,
Kirstee